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Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

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Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so good but still so buggy. Very much a love-hate relationship.

Really? Are there certain services you find to be buggy? I feel like Sonos is one of the least buggy pieces of tech in my house. That's what I love about it. It just works, I don't have to explain to non-technical family members how to work around issues, etc. But we almost exclusively use it for Apple Music and Spotify, so maybe there are some rough edges we haven't encountered.

try playing music that is stored on your phone the sonos... it keeps cutting the effing song off short and starting the next song too early.

a bug that's been around forever and they plain refuse to fix it.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#63
post #60

It seems like nobody actually owns anything any more - that we're all just digital serfs living on someone else's land. I really don't know why anyone would willingly make such a deal.

Individuals haven't owned much in a very long time; we've been physical serfs living on someone else's land for even longer. You only "own" something so long as you pay taxes (aka rents) for the right to do so, otherwise someone, usually the government, will take it from you. Even if you don't want to play along, you can only be somewhere public for so long until you're loitering and subject to fines (more rents), co…

I highly recommend "Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition have Failed"

reviewing the rise of top-down city planning especially in recent modern cities like Brasilia (which systematically removed public space & spontaneous street interactions by design)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bras%C3%ADlia

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#64
post #53
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a fine solution if you have an extra one laying around. But I don't and I'm hesitant to buy a tablet just to drive a speaker.

Is it even more expensive to drive a regular speaker with a dedicated tablet than a Sonos speaker?

Yeah cost is definitely not going to be a reasonable factor wrt Sonos equipment comparison. I think the tablet being misplaced, broken or otherwise abused is more troublesome.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#65

It seems like nobody actually owns anything any more - that we're all just digital serfs living on someone else's land. I really don't know why anyone would willingly make such a deal.

It doesn't seem like a terrible deal ( http://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/privacy ). What part of the privacy policy do you specifically have an issue with?

Mostly this part:

> Sonos may modify or update this Statement when necessary to reflect customer feedback and changes in our Products and Service; so, please review it periodically. When we update this Statement, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the top of the Statement. If there are material changes to the Statement or in how Sonos uses your personal data, we will notify you either by posting a notice of such changes before they take effect or by sending you a notification. We encourage you to periodically review this Statement to learn more about how Sonos is using and protecting your information. Your continued use of the Service or Products after any modification to this Statement will constitute your acceptance of such modification and updates.

I wouldn't have to just agree to the policy as you linked it today. One agrees to all future versions of the policy.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#66
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The part where playing audio, including that from 3rd party sources, doesn't need Sonos to get any device usage data. However they still want it 'to improve their service', and you can't turn that off. Not accepting terms means that you'll never get firmware updates.

OK, but "usage data" just doesn't seem like a big deal. Netflix and all other content providers collect "usage data" too, as does the devices these may run on such as "Roku" and other players.

Streaming Content Provider vs. Physical Device specifically made to play music you physically own or streamed from devices you physically own.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#67

As a Sonos (I have close to $2000 worth of products) user this actually doesn't bother me. To all the people talking about ownership. I find it hard to believe the aux in will cease to work. So worst case is they turn into regular speakers. What it sounds like is you won't be able to update your firmware. So more likely than not, everything would keep working but random Internet related services (like Spotify Integra…

> I find it hard to believe

.... until it does happen as they promised ...

> sound systems that may eventually "cease to function".

Not just some part of it but all of it.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#68
post #30
post #3

The actual solution is simple: stop using these devices.

Yes I will tell my friend who has sonos players for around 2000 USD, I'm sure he will listen.

Good god, how many does he have that they set him back $2000?

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#69
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The part where playing audio, including that from 3rd party sources, doesn't need Sonos to get any device usage data. However they still want it 'to improve their service', and you can't turn that off. Not accepting terms means that you'll never get firmware updates.

OK, but "usage data" just doesn't seem like a big deal. Netflix and all other content providers collect "usage data" too, as does the devices these may run on such as "Roku" and other players.

Why would you assume ralphm is happy with those other services doing it? Maybe they don't use any of those things.

Re: Sonos: users must accept new privacy policy or devices may “cease to function”

#70
post #54
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The customer can choose to acknowledge the policy, or can accept that over time their product may cease to function " (emphasize mine).

You read that and think they're going to tunnel into your network and break your speakers? To me this is clearly lawyer CYA language to ensure that when Spotify changes their API and Sonos only supports it in a future software update, you will have been warned.

I read that and I think they're totally free to.

And they might. Which would be more frustrating to a user - their Sonos turning into regular speakers, or arbitrarily and randomly not functioning as expected?

Imagine the difference between your phone suddenly bricking itself, or random refusing to dial certain numbers.

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